Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1887-08-12
Mr.. AND MRS. BOWSER.
BY MRS. BowsER.

BY MRS. BOWSER.
After supper the other evening Mr..
Bowser pulled lot of statements OF
account from his pocket with great gra-
witty of demeanor. and spreading them
out on the comfortable he said;
"Mrs. Bowser, do you see theseP'
II do"
''Do you know what they areP'
''Why, they are the monthly accounts
from the grocer's." :"
''Oh, they are! Well, should say SO!
do you know what this family has de-
voured, wasted and given to the Polacks
in the last month";
81 know that we have been very eco
nomical"
'Do you! The grand footing is $64,
Mrs. Bowser-over $15 per week for a
family of four, and one of them a baby
and the other hired girl with the dys-
pepsia! | am no miser, but | pro-
nounce this an outraged"
But | haven't ordered anything
extra, and I've tried to be very careful
to buy close"
MRS. Bowser, it's your poor buying
and poor management You don't
know any more about running house
than l do of bossng steamboat.
Either that or else grocers are swind-
ling me, and | won't stand 1t. Hereaf-
ter shall do all the buying"
gave the cook orders to tell him
what she wanted, and next morning
Mr.. Bowscr entered upon his dut es.
The first purchase he made was a BUSH
ell of potatoes from peddler in front of
the house. He gave 81. 10, and told the
man where to carry them. When he
came home to dinner the cook had to
tell him;
II put that bushel of potatoes into
three pecks, and then cut up the whole
lot to get good ones enough for din
ner."
The first thing to come up from the
grocery was consignment of ten cans
of pumpkin. This was followed by
fifty pounds of evaporated apples and
100 dozen clothes-pi AS nothing
further appeared the cook boiled some
potatoes, made a pumpkin pie and
stewed some of the apples. When we
went out to dinner Mr.. Bowser looked
around in astonishment.
''What does this mean y he finally
demanded
"Why, it's all you sent"
He couldn't gainsay that, by and by
he explained that he saved fully dol
lsr and half on his purchases by buy
ing in such quantities
''You paid ten cents per can for
pumpkin, while got the lot for seven,"
he went on. Thirty cents isn't so
very much, but it is as good to me as
to the grocer.
''Yes, but ! bought about one can
month. You have enough here to last
us three years.
''Well | saved forty cents on the
applesP" he protested.
1--WE have used just two pounds in
the last six months, Mr.. Bowser. At
that rate you have laid in supply for
two years"
There was a look of terror in his
ewes, and he dared not proceed to
clothes-pins nor say word about the
potatoes.
| went down with him next morn
ing, and rs we halted in front of
grocery he called out:
Say, Green, roast for dinner
two quarts strawberries -and-yum-
say. head of cabbage
When we had driven away he said
to me;
1--WE were just eleven seconds in front
of that grocery. You'd come down
here and fool away half AN hour to give
the same order. You've got to be
right up and down business with these
fellows"
When we came to sit down to dinner
we had roast pork and Strawberries and
boiled cabbage.
~ want to know what this means!"
exclaimed Mr.. Bowser as he showed
back.
This is what you ordered. dear, and
it didn't take but eleven seconds. You
didn't specify the sort of roast you
wanted, and you didn't tell the cook
whether you wanted the cabbage boil
ed, fried or baked. You are running
the kitchen now, you know p''
He swallowed a few mouthfuls. tried
hard to change the subject, and after
dinner he went into the kitchen and
said to the girl:
Hannah, | want sweet cake, tarts,
hot biscuit raspberries and clipped
beef for supper.
VERY well, sir.
'Tll send up everything as l go
down"
Eyes. sir"
About mid-afternoon grocer's wag-
on delivered pound of cloves, pound
of cinnamon and beefsteak When
Mr.. Bowser came home to supper the
eook called him into the kitchen and
said:
Did you bring the bakers bread.
sir P'
"why. no. told you we'd have hot
biscuit
/, "But Pve no -four"
7 ''Then why didn't you say so p''
"The m ssus always asks me, and |
you didn't say word The lard is al
so out
'tBut the beef P''
Il can't chip raw beefsteak. sir.
They probably misunderstood your or
der"
And the tarts ?''
Il had nothing TO make 'em of, and |
in this country we don't make sweet |
cake of cloves and cinnamon. Where |
them raspberries?'
Ill forgot 'em.'
Mr.. Bowser had the beefsteak. and
worked away on the cvaporated
apples and remnant of the pumpkin